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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · bat · wind · stock · press · craft · jam · kick

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — the animal
  5. craft — a skill
  6. clip — a video
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. craft — boats
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. press — newspapers
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stock — shares
  19. press — a publisher
  20. press — to push
  21. stock — goods
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com